Today's children don't know the Bible: three ways to respond

A survey for the Bible Society, released today, shows that almost three in ten children don't know key Bible stories, or if they do, they don't realise those stories come from the Bible. And it's not just the children and young people (those surveyed were 8 to 15-year-olds) - their parents didn't recognise many of these stories either.

So how do we respond to this kind of news? It's easy to tut about modern standards, shake our heads at the state of religious education in schools, and hark back to "the good old days". But here are three more positive suggestions instead:

• Pray for a family near you. They might live in your street, run the local shop, go to the same school as your child/grandchild… Pray for the whole family, not just the child, since it is usually the actions of the parents that determine whether a child can join a group, organisation or church. Pray that the Lord will provide an opportunity for this family to meet Christians and begin to hear the truths of Scripture for themselves. You could also ask God to show you how you can be a part of that.
• Find out about a school near you. The guidelines for what kind of Christian teaching is allowed in a school vary from area to area, and country to country. Here in the UK there is still some freedom to teach about Christian things in assemblies, lessons and voluntary Christian clubs. If you're in the US, there's far less freedom; in Australia there's more. (I was thrilled to take part in a school lesson in Sydney and to discover that local churches don't just have an opportunity, but an obligation to teach about their faith in their local school.) Try and find out about a school near to you or your church. Is there a Christian group to pray for? Any Christian teachers? Perhaps you can join or set up a prayer group for the school (this often works best if it meets straight after the children have been dropped off in the morning).
• Support a Christian group near you. This may be in your church, an after-school club, or a local organisation such as Youth for Christ, Boys Brigade or Urban Saints. If you can, contact a leader from this group and ask how you can help. This doesn't have to mean becoming a weekly leader. There may be other kinds of practical help you can offer, such as being an extra adult when they go on a trip, helping set up for an evangelistic event, making visual aids (there are plenty of children's leaders who can't draw!), buying extra Bibles for a group that doesn't have enough, offering babysitting so that parents can get to a training evening, helping to fund a young person to go to a camp they can't afford… The list is endless. And, of course, pray. Sadly, most children's and youth leaders are never asked by church members how things are going, and what in particular they need prayer for. Doing that this Sunday is a very simple way to encourage a leader enormously.

Today's news about the number of children and parents who don't know the Bible is sad, if not surprising. But instead of being disheartened, let's use it as an opportunity to make this a day when we make a difference.